So my grandson (18) asks me about the speculators causing the price of oil to go up. He sounded like he believed the garbage out there blaming "speculators" and oil companies for the runup in fuel costs.

So I had to explain the futures market to him, somewhat.

Obama starts a war with Libya, BOOM! crude up ten dollars a barrel. That's a loss of 10,000.00 for a speculator on the short side of the contract, counting on the price to return to normal.

So holding ten contracts at a margin of some 6700 per contract means you have to have 67,000.00 in your account. Plus the ten grand you just lost.

The Anointed One should hold up a mirror when he does his finger pointing.

The first runup in crude was becausae of lack of faith in the dollar due to the reckless spending. Then the Libya pop.

My grandson, after this little lesson, says (without any prompting) "Why don't they just hang Obama?".

HM the political correct crap from the left is why this country is where it is at. Keep up the good wrok with your son. There needs to be more economics lessons from "real" teachers in this country. Not the liberal bs they preach in public schools.

“Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight. A slipshod EPA permitting process — most likely intentional — set up the credulous Shell for failure. Sad but entirely predictable. What people don’t seem to get is that Obama wants expensive gasoline as a means of causing energy chaos (see Green Hell for more on this point). He doesn’t view high gas prices as an obstacle to re-election. He knows the election will be about personalities, not policies — or at least that will be his campaign strategy. •

The fact that the EPA has the unmitigated power to make these decisions is outrageous! One can't help to think that Dumbama was consulted beforehand. What will be his next move to drive up the price of gasoline? How many of you are standing in line to buy a $40k electric car that has little room to carry anything of substance? This man is not insane. He knows exactly what he's doing. Unfortunately, half of America has no clue as to his motives.

He continues to shut down oil drilling in the Gulf and Alaska. The Pacific is certainly on his radar. This is criminal. Period.

Sure wish we would get all that oil we were told by Bush to pay for the war in Iraq. Remember 25-30 dollars we were paying for a barrel of oil before the Iraq invasion! Do not let any of the so call leaders escape responsibility for the mess they have gotten this country in!

Sure wish we would get all that oil we were told by Bush to pay for the war in Iraq. Remember 25-30 dollars we were paying for a barrel of oil before the Iraq invasion! Do not let any of the so call leaders escape responsibility for the mess they have gotten this country in!